Taking Part in the Work of the Creator

Workers with the Pope for Holy Year. Work,

ìLord, give success to the work of our hands.î (Responsorial Psalm) These words we repeated in the Responsorial Psalm clearly express the meaning of todayís Jubilee. Today, May 1st, a united prayer rises from the vast and multifaceted world of work: Lord, bless us and strengthen the work of our hands!

Our laborsñat home, in the fields, in industries and in officesñcould turn into an exhausting busyness ultimately devoid of meaning. (cf. Eccl 1:3) Let us ask the Lord for it to be the fulfillment of his plan, so that our work may recover its original meaning.

And what is the original meaning of work? We have heard it in the first reading from the Book of Genesis. God gave man, created in his image and likeness, a command: ìFill the earth and subdue it.î (Gen 1:28) The apostle Paul echoes these words when he writes to the Christians of Thessalonica: ìWhen we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat,î and exhorts them ìto do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.î (2Thes 3:10,12)

In Godís plan, work is therefore seen as a right and duty. Necessary to make the earthís resources benefit the life of each person and of society, it helps to direct human activity toward God in the fulfillment of his command to ìsubdue the earth.î In this regard another of the apostleís exhortations echoes in our souls: ìSo, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.î (1Cor 10:31)

While the Jubilee Year turns our gaze to the mystery of the Incarnation, it invites us to reflect with particular intensity on the hidden life of Jesus in Nazareth. It was there that he spent most of his earthly life. With his silent diligence in Josephís workshop, Jesus gave the highest proof of the dignity of work. Todayís Gospel mentions how the residents of Nazareth, his fellow villagers, welcomed him with surprise, asking one another, ìWhere did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenterís son?î (Mt 13:54-55)

The Son of God did not disdain being called a ìcarpenterî and did not want to be spared the normal condition of every human being. ìThe eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: he belongs to the ëworking world,í he has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said that he looks with love upon human work and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of manís likeness with God, the Creator and Father.î (Encyclical Laborem exercens, n. 26) [Ö]

Since its Hebrew origins, the Jubilee has directly concerned the reality of work, since the People of God were a people of free men and women redeemed by the Lord from their condition as slaves. (cf. Lev 25) In the paschal mystery Christ also brings to fulfillment this institution of the old law, giving it full spiritual meaning but integrating its social dimension into the great plan of the kingdom, which, like ìleaven,î causes the whole of society to make true progress.

Therefore the Jubilee Year calls for a rediscovery of the meaning and value of work. It is also an invitation to address the economic and social imbalances in the world of work by re-establishing the right hierarchy of values, giving priority to the dignity of working men and women and to their freedom, responsibility, and participation. It also spurs us to redress situations of injustice by safeguarding each peopleís culture and different models of development.

At this moment I cannot fail to express my solidarity with all who are suffering because of unemployment, inadequate wages, or lack of material resources. I am well aware of the peoples who are reduced to a poverty that offends their dignity, prevents them from sharing the earthís goods, and obliges them to eat whatever scraps fall from the tables of the rich. (cf. Incarnationis mysterium, n. 12) The effort to remedy these situations is a labor of justice and peace. [Ö]